Bristol University scientists first to make discovery of calcium's role in healing wounds

A Bristol team of scientists have discovered that calcium could speed up the healing process.

The team from Bristol University’s school of biochemistry, working with colleagues from Bath, were the first to find that the body uses calcium as the first step in repairing damaged tissue.

They believe the discovery could lead to new therapies being developed to speed up healing following injury or surgery.

While studying the cellular processes in the body’s response to healing the scientists discovered that a “flash” of calcium is the first trigger in the process.

Until recently little was known about the way damaged tissue attracts the first white blood cells to the wound to start its repair.

But the Bristol and Bath scientists have shown that the flash of calcium sends a signal to an enzyme that in turn attracts the white blood cells to the site of the wound.

White blood cells are needed to kill off any invading microbes and to prevent the onset of septicaemia at the site of the tissue damage.

It is the first time that the wound-induced flash of calcium has been identified as the body’s earliest signal to repair damage, improving understanding of how to signal to immune cells to act quickly.

Paul Martin, professor of cell biology and an expert in wound healing at Bristol University, said: “White blood cells are a little like ‘Jeckyll and Hyde’ in that they help us heal but are also the reason behind why we scar so we really need to know how they are regulated at wounds in order to learn how to control their behaviours for future therapeutic intervention.”

Will Razzell, the lead PhD researcher on the study, added: “We are more than ever understanding the pathways that lead to immune cell attraction to wounds. As calcium represents the immediate inflammatory signal, we now have a good foundation to investigate this complicated process further.”